Breakfast with a vintage vibe

BUOYED BY the success of her healthy all-day breakfast cafe Tiny Cup in Soi Thonglor, Chitraphan Charanachitta has opened a second branch on Wireless Road offering downtown diners the benefits of her savoury and sweet dishes. 

Located in a quiet residential building that used to house the Pastale cafe, the 50-square-metre eatery has a clean and uncluttered look with wooden tables and chairs and comfy banquettes bathed in the warm lighting. Chitraphan’s favourite cups, teapots and mugs adorn the shelves, giving the place a vintage vibe. 

Open since last November, this relaxing 25-seat cafe is a great place to start the day with breakfast or while away the midday break with salads, pasta, main dishes and desserts. The menu is identical to the Thonglor branch though not as extensive. Several rice dishes including a hearty chicken stew have instead been added to the list of fare to satisfy the appetites of office staff working nearby. It’s also possible to keep on working while you eat thanks to a free Wi-Fi connection.

Chitraphan, who is one of the heirs to Italthai Industrial, has turned her passion for baking into a career. After graduating in Chinese studies with an economics elective from Wellesley College in Massachusetts, she worked at Siam Cement Group for a while then signed up for the one-year diploma course at Le Cordon Bleu Dusit Culinary. A short apprenticeship with a leading hotel followed and then she was ready to fly solo.

“I’ve always loved cooking and I’m fortunate that my family is very supportive,” she says. “And I much preferred the idea of establishing my own brand rather than running the chain restaurants.

“I insist on using fresh ingredients and my cooking is geared towards light cuisine.”

Chitraphan opened Buttercup in Soi Soonvijai in 2010 offering home-made foods and bakeries with intense tastes to suit the Thai palette. A breakfast-buff herself, she launched Tiny Cup in Soi Thonglor two years ago targetting early birds after a healthy breakfast, Western home-style dishes and house-blended drinks. 

Egg and Chorizo (Bt220) is a delightful way to start the day. The egg is baked with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese, topped with chorizo slices and comes with whole-wheat toast on the side. A full English breakfast (Bt420) is offered in the mornings and is guaranteed to keep you full until mid-afternoon. The two eggs are cooked as you want them and served with smoked ham, sausage, bacon, baked beans, grilled tomato, green salad and whole-wheat toast and washed down with coffee or tea.

The Tuna Melt (Bt280) – an open-faced sandwich with pumpkin bread topped with tuna mixed with mayonnaise, avocado slices and lightly baked mozzarella cheese – is a winner at any time of day, as is the Salmon Collagen Salad (Bt240) made with crispy mixed salad and rocket leaves and bite-sized grilled salmon chunks and drizzled with sunflower seeds, fresh orange slices and orange collagen dressing.

Pasta fans will love the Spaghetti Seafood Pesto (Bt280) with salmon, shrimp and scallop cooked with home-made pesto sauce and dried chilli. For a Thai-style fiery kick, order Spaghetti Pla Salid (Bt230) cooked with local fried fish pla salid or snakeskin gourami, bell pepper, peppercorn and sweet basil leaves. 

Buttercup’s best-selling chicken stew is also available here. The chicken is stewed with tomato, potato, carrot and long beans until soft and served with steamed jasmine rice (Bt210). 

Some 10 sweet treats are offered each day and include the customer-favourite Mango Roll (Bt150) with Japanese rice mousse and fresh mango, and a Strawberry Shortcake that is light and not too sweet. Other tempting choices are Strawberry Tart (Bt110) and Chocolate Raspberry Tart (also Bt110). 

Among the healthy drinks are Orange Passion (Bt130) – a smoothie made with fresh passion fruit and orange topped with raspberry flake – and Apple Tea (Bt100) made with TWG apple tea topped with diced fresh green apple. 

 

 

WELLNESS ON WIRELESS

>>Tiny Cup’s second branch is at Suthawong Building on Wireless Road Soi 1. It’s open Monday to Saturday from 8am to 5pm. Call (061) 386 7001 or visit The TinyCupBKK page on Facebook.